Upcycling Old End Tables

I was lucky enough that my mom had some end tabled she was looking to get rid of. When I decided to makeover the sun room, I knew I wanted 2 of these mid century modern end tables to cap off the daybed I was putting out there.

The first step was priming. I sprayed 2 coats of Krylon primer all over these tables. This is a definite must if you are working with wood or faux wood that have a glossy finish. Paint won't stick to glossy finishes, so you need the primer to offer a rough surface for the paint to stick to.

I was especially careful about this, because I knew end tables get tons of wear, so I didn't want the paint to chip or peel.

After the primer dried, I sprayed 3 coats of Rustoleum Ocean Mist spray paint - letting each coat dry fully before re-coating. I started from the bottom up, using the principal I learned when painting the kitchen cabinets. I knew it would be okay if the bottom of the legs were a little messed up due to being on the grass, but I wouldn't want the tops of the tables to get ruined by sitting face down on the grass since they are the part of the tables that are most visible.

I then sprayed the center supports and taped off and sprayed the bottom of the legs in Krylon Gold. I did 2 coats of this, letting each coat fully dry before re-coating. 

I then had to fix the center supports. I did this by taping off the center with 1" painters tape and spraying the Rustoleum Ocean Mist over the tape and touching up where any gold paint had accidentally been over-sprayed onto the base color. Once it was dry, I removed my painter's tape, and was DONE! 

You can see here what I meant about fixing the center supports. I thought a small golden band around those would be really pretty, and it ended up working great!

Now these lovely end tables fit in perfectly with the new sun room (you can see that makeover here)!

Here's a breakdown of what I used:

• Primer ( I used Krylon, but you can use any primer you'd like)
• Primary Color (I used Rustoleum Ocean Mist)
• Accent Color (if you want one - I used Krylon Metallic Gold)
• Painter's Tape 1" (you can use larger if you like - this is just what I had and what I wanted for the center supports - additionally if you aren't doing an accent color you don't need this)
• Patience (letting all of the coats dry turns this into a full day project, but you can relax inside while this is happening)
• Good Weather (if you are going to spray outside)

3 Step Cheap Tea Party Bird Feeders

This was, yet again, a very inexpensive craft. I went to the local thrift store, and found some cute teacups and saucers (about $0.30 each.) I had the epoxy at home. It took about 30 minutes to clean and ready the plates and saucers, and an hour of waiting for the epoxy to dry.

You will need:
saucer(s)
cup(s)
epoxy*/glue
weight to help the cup and saucer set
bird seed

* you will also need something to mix epoxy in if you decide to do it the way I did.

Step 1: Clean the saucer(s) and cup(s)

Step 2: Mix and apply epoxy/glue             

I keep lids from jars and Yoohoo bottles to mix this stuff in. 

Step 3: Wait for the glue/epoxy to dry

I weighed mine down with some books, because I was worried the glossy finish of the cup and saucers wouldn't hold. Later research told me that sanding the bottom of the cup would have been sufficient, BUT I had no problems with it staying after doing it this way.

Step 4: Fill with bird seed, and enjoy!

            

I also picked up a cheap bonsai tree and a tea-kettle for about $1.50.

And that, my dear friends, is a cheap craft that you can do in an afternoon if you want to charm the birdies into visiting your place. You can also attach these to poles and posts, but since I live in an apartment complex, there is no yard for me to place the poles in. 

Cheap DIY Monogram Wreaths

I made these wreaths for about $9 each. I wanted to spruce up the patio doors, and a neighbor gave me this idea.

Materials:

Wreaths (2) - $1 each at Dollar Tree
Ribbon (2) - $1 each roll at Michaels
Flowers (4) - $1 for each bush at Dollar Tree
Wooden Letters (2) - $2.99 each at Michaels
Wirecutters
Hammer
Push Pins
Hot Glue Gun

Here are the essential components of the project.

First: Wrap ribbon around wreath. I tied both ends, and secured every other spiral with hot glue.

I left space for the flowers, which also saved some ribbon length for later use. I don't see a need for wrapping it if it is going to be covered by flowers!

Second: Cut flowers from stem using wire cutters.

I cut them long, then trimmed them after they were free from the bush. I also removed the leaves, but that is just a personal taste.

Third: Insert flowers into wreath, making sure to hot glue the bases so they will stay. [I didn't get a picture of this, sorry!]

Fourth: Cut four equally long pieces of ribbon to tie on your letter. [I liked to set the letter where I wanted it in the center of the wreath, and measured out the length of ribbon needed.] Then, secure those pieces on the back of your letter using a hammer and push pins as shown below:

I'm sure there are better ways of doing this, but I used what I had laying around the house and knew that would hold the weight of the letter. 

Fifth: [This was probably the hardest part for me.] Attach the wooden letter to the wreath using the attached ribbon lengths. 

I found it easiest to attach the letter when the wreath was vertical, because that allowed the W to be pulled by gravity, which allowed me the chance to properly attach the ribbon in the desired location. I just double knotted the ribbon onto the back and used a dab of hot glue to make sure it stayed.

Six: Enjoy your new wreath(es)!